Gearbox acquired the rights to the Duke Nukem franchise back in 2010. Shortly after, the developer released Duke Nukem Forever, which had been stuck in development hell for over ten years at 3D Realms.

Everything has been quiet since then until Gearbox head Randy Pitchford started talking about it again today at Develop 2015 conference.

“I did not acquire the franchise merely so people could experience Duke Nukem Forever,” Pitchford said, as transcribed by Eurogamer. “That was, sort of, the toll to pay to give Duke Nukem a chance at a future.

“So yes. In fact, we’ve done some concept development. The challenge is that Gearbox is very busy. A faster way would be if the correct developer would become interested and we’d work with them.”

“I think that’s it’s a challenging problem,” he added, “but there’s no doubt that, when it does happen, the entire industry will turn its head. Getting attention in this industry is one of the hardest things to do.”

Perhaps the next game will have more attainable goals than Forever’s. Which, as Pitchford notes, “was promised as the greatest game that would ever be made”.

It looks like he’s decided to embrace that, chatting more freely about the as yet unannounced sequel at PAX South ahead of Take Two’s apparent confirmation of Borderlands 3 for new-gen consoles.

Indeed, in a recent interview, the executive stressed the need for developers to accept risk and take chances.

“The oldest problem our species has faced is that we can’t realize and manifest everything that we can imagine as quickly as we can imagine it,” Pitchford said during an episode of GameTrailers‘ Bonus Round, as transcribed by Gamespot.

“So the only solution to that problem is to make choices. And to pick one thing and abandon another. And that can be difficult if there’s a part of our minds that loves the thing that must be abandoned and is afraid of the new frontier that should be embraced.”

“But progress demands that we look forward, and the biggest and most exciting things that we’re going to do be doing in interactive entertainment in the future are things that we can’t even conceive of today.

“We’ll never get there unless we actually are comfortable taking some risks and trying things we haven’t done before.”

I wonder what this means for Borderlands 3? Will it be the MMO I’ve always dreamed of?

Gearbox created the Aliens: Colonial Marines demos that sparked such controversy and “leaked” misleading information, Sega has alleged.

According to Polygon‘s ongoing courage of documents related to the suit, Sega’s latest filing rebuts Gearbox’s earlier claim that it had nothing to do with the marketing of Aliens: Colonial Marines.

The filing includes multiple internal emails and paints a sorry picture of a bold marketing plan gone wrong. Initially, Sega seems excited by the possibility of working closely with Gearbox on marketing, describing Pitchford as a “respected development celebrity” and “guaranteed to be headline material in worldwide press coverage”.

By E3 2011, and the notorious demo later used in trailers and other promotional materials, things were starting to go south. Sega says the demo was created entirely by Gearbox, and that Gearbox told Sega it was representative of the final product. (You may remember Pitchford describing this demo as actual gameplay.)

Sega PR manager Matt Eyre said he confronted Gearbox about its leaks, and was told they were a result of Pitchford “doing whatever the fuck he likes”.

In an internal email from Sega’s Matt Powers, the senior producer says Gearbox “verified” the E3 2011 demo “is indeed the bar that we should use to determine where the entire game will be”. It’s interesting that he goes on to say that he “just wanted to double-check with them” – was there some doubt creeping in?

In addition to the demo, Sega cited eight examples of Gearbox making announcements either to press or the public without Sega’s permission, including releasing information Sega had asked Gearbox not to reveal. This goes against the marketing agreement between the two companies, Sega said, and if ture certainly casts doubt on Gearbox’s earlier assertion that it wasn’t involved in marketing at all.

In another internal email, Sega PR manager Matt Eyre said he confronted Gearbox about its leaks, which included website posts, panel discussions and more, and was told they were a result of Pitchford “doing whatever the fuck he likes”.

“Apparently he did it twice on [Borderlands 2] also, against, against all plans and despite the fact they asked him not to. I think our best result here is that we have no more panel sessions,” Eyre said.

Sega also rebutted Gearbox’s claim of not earning any royalties on Aliens: Colonial Marines, saying it paid millions in “advance” royalties, and has requested the court ignore Gearbox’s request to be removed from the suit. The next hearing will be held on October 29.

While not admitting any fault, Sega has proposed paying out $1.25 million to claimants. Doing so would protect it from all future actions on the same matter – but would not extend that same protection to Gearbox.

Interestingly, this latest filing also claims Gearbox were offered the chance to be part of the settlement, thereby gaining its protection, for the sum of $750,000. Gearbox’s response to this was the motion mentioned above, requesting it be removed from the suit.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/09/04/aliens-colonial-marines-false-advertising-randy-pitchford-does-whatever-he-likes/feed/0“Crazy” Borderlands 3 concept scared Gearbox Softwarehttp://www.vg247.com/2014/07/09/borderlands-3-game-pc-ps4-xbox-one-gearbox/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/07/09/borderlands-3-game-pc-ps4-xbox-one-gearbox/#commentsWed, 09 Jul 2014 10:19:52 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=482123Borderlands 3 has apparently triggered some big and crazy concepts over at developer Gearbox Software. CEO Randy Pitchford hasn’t confirmed that the game exists, but he has stated that thinking about that grand concept has left the studio feeling scared.

Speaking within the pages of GameInformer, Pitchford said, “There’s a point where it’s like, ‘What should the next Borderlands be? Should there be another Borderlands, and what should it be?’

“We had that discussion and there was this weird mixed bag. On one level it’s like, ‘Woah’. If you’re going to do something that’s called Borderlands 3 and it’s going to be done in this next-generation environment, there’s a whole bunch of ideas that come around of what has to happen in order for that to live up to what that needs to be.”

Pitchford added that 2K Australia’s hand in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel has coerced Gearbox into thinking differently about what Borderlands 3 might look like, and naturally Game Informer politely reminded its readers that these quotes in no way confirm development of Borderlands 3.

He said that if Borderlands 3 could eventually be a thing, “We imagine what that might be, and frankly it scared us. It’s like, ‘That’s so crazy and so big that I’m not sure we can succeed’.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/07/09/borderlands-3-game-pc-ps4-xbox-one-gearbox/feed/12Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel “might be as big, or a little bigger,” than Borderlands 1http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/15/borderlands-the-pre-sequel-might-be-as-big-or-a-little-bigger-than-borderlands-1/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/15/borderlands-the-pre-sequel-might-be-as-big-or-a-little-bigger-than-borderlands-1/#commentsTue, 15 Apr 2014 17:09:05 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=465231Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel will be large, but it won’t be on the same size scale as Borderlands 2, according to Gearbox Software president Randy Pitchford.

“It’s pretty big. I don’t think it’s going to be as big as Borderlands 2,” he said. “It might be kind of in between the two,” as the teams are “still getting a grasp on scope” of it.

Pitchford also said the game “should be priced correctly,” meaning 2K will price it fairly with current market value.

“As far as price point goes, I don’t think that’s set in stone yet,” he said. “It should be priced correctly, so we’ll have to see what happens in the market and understand the actual total value proposition that’s being offered. But I’m the developer. The guys at 2K will figure that out.”

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel was announced as being in development with 2K Australia last week, and is set for a fall release on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/15/borderlands-the-pre-sequel-might-be-as-big-or-a-little-bigger-than-borderlands-1/feed/1Borderlands team will “probably” announce a next-gen game this year, Pitchford responds to reportshttp://www.vg247.com/2014/04/02/borderlands-team-will-probably-announce-a-next-gen-game-this-year/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/02/borderlands-team-will-probably-announce-a-next-gen-game-this-year/#commentsTue, 01 Apr 2014 23:32:34 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=461406Borderlands and Brothers in Arms developer Gearbox Software will “probably” announce a PS4 and Xbox One game sometime this year.

UPDATE: It seems Pitchford was unhappy with the way one site in particular reported on his next-gen game tease:

Ever wondered how to fabricate a "news" story from arbitrary, disconnected comments and tweets? Here ya go: http://t.co/pvdvAY0R3W

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/02/borderlands-team-will-probably-announce-a-next-gen-game-this-year/feed/3Borderlands 3 isn’t in development, but Furious 4, a new Homeworld and two new IP are, says Gearboxhttp://www.vg247.com/2014/02/14/borderlands-3-isnt-in-development-but-furious-4-a-new-homeworld-and-two-new-ip-are-says-gearbox/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/02/14/borderlands-3-isnt-in-development-but-furious-4-a-new-homeworld-and-two-new-ip-are-says-gearbox/#commentsFri, 14 Feb 2014 19:44:40 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=448795Borderlands 3 is not currently in development, according to Gearbox Software boss Randy Pitchford; however, there are two new IP in the works.

Speaking with Polygon, Pitchford said should Borderlands 3 development become part of the plan, “it should be massive.”

“It should be bigger and better than Borderlands 2. It should carry forward the story. It’s probably crazy multiplatform, depending on timing. It would have to be a next-gen game and a current-gen game, if it was coming at any time in the reasonably near future,” he said.

“We love Borderlands, and we know customers do too. So we will be doing more in Borderlands. But the thing that, when you think of what Borderlands 3 should be… No. We are not developing that right now. We don’t know what that is yet. We can imagine what it must achieve, but we don’t know what it is yet.

“I’m not going to fuck around with you like Valve does with Half-Life 3. Look. We know we want it and we know it should exist, but we don’t know what it is yet. But we are doing things in Borderlands that we’ll announce soon, that are good, and that I think people will be really excited about if you love the franchise.”

According to the man himself, the firm’s Brothers in Arms game Furious 4 is still in development as are revamps of the first two Homeworld games which it purchased the rights to during the THQ sale.

Elsewhere in the interview, he says that a new Homeworld title is in development and two, unannounced new IP.

Sounds like everyone is super busy at the Plano, Texas studio.

The next Headhunter pack for Borderlands 2, Sir Hammerlock and the Son of Crawmerax, is due in April.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/02/14/borderlands-3-isnt-in-development-but-furious-4-a-new-homeworld-and-two-new-ip-are-says-gearbox/feed/5“I want to see Half-Life 3″: Pitchford wants Valve’s resources to be spent on games, not hardwarehttp://www.vg247.com/2013/09/30/i-want-to-see-half-life-3-pitchford-wants-valves-resources-to-be-spend-on-games-not-hardware/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/09/30/i-want-to-see-half-life-3-pitchford-wants-valves-resources-to-be-spend-on-games-not-hardware/#commentsMon, 30 Sep 2013 15:39:41 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=413112Half-Life 3 wasn’t announced last week, and Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford isn’t too pleased. He’s shared his thoughts on Valve’s new SteamOS and Steam Box announcements in a new interview.

Speaking with GI.biz, Pitchford reflected on Valve’s announcements, and lamented the company’s focus on hardware and services, instead of games like Half-Life 3.

“There has been some understanding for some time that Valve was looking at some angles in this direction,” he began, “so I imagine there was some curiosity and, with just a few folks, perhaps some concern about what they might show up with. I imagine that if I was in a key seat at one of the first parties, after hearing this news, I would probably exhale a bit and imagine that I don’t really have anything I have to worry myself about too much coming from this direction for a while.

“If I had a seat at either Sony or Microsoft, depending on which seat I was sitting in, of course, I would probably also be feeling a tiny bit better about my own decisions when I think about how I’m feeling about what I perceive Valve’s reasons and decisions to be here.”

Valve’s controller has certainly piqued Pitchford’s interest however. He continued, “I want to fiddle around with their controller. I’m curious what spectrum of propositions will be made with the specific machine offerings, but am sceptical that something will appear that leads me to think it’s a good decision to replace my PC.

“Maybe that’s not their aim – we’ll all learn more soon. But the burden to add an additional thing beyond the PC I am likely to keep is pretty high, so we’ll see if any of their machines can get me there if their intent is that these are dedicated Steam OS machines.”

Like many of you out there, Pitchford wanted Half-Life 3, not hardware. He concluded, “I want to see Half-Life 3 or other exciting and big and original offerings from these guys who are amongst the best in the world at crafting interactive entertainment and are resourced better than anyone. As long as Steam and Valve are one entity, I am always going to feel uneasy that attention and resources towards the platform is distracting attention and resources away from the entertainment they could (should?) be creating.

“I guess I am just a greedy gamer who wants to be blown away playing more of the best, new video games in the world, so I selfishly want to know that the incredible talent at Valve is spending 100 percent of their mindshare building new video games!”

What did you make of Valve’s big announcements? Did you want to see a game reveal rather than SteamOS, the Steam Box line and the Valve’ controller? Let us know below.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/09/30/i-want-to-see-half-life-3-pitchford-wants-valves-resources-to-be-spend-on-games-not-hardware/feed/28Borderlands 2 fans shouldn’t expect future DLC to be a second “season” of content, says Pitchfordhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/09/14/borderlands-2-fans-shouldnt-expect-future-dlc-to-be-a-second-%e2%80%9cseason%e2%80%9d-of-content-says-pitchford/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/09/14/borderlands-2-fans-shouldnt-expect-future-dlc-to-be-a-second-%e2%80%9cseason%e2%80%9d-of-content-says-pitchford/#commentsSat, 14 Sep 2013 18:12:35 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=408090Gearbox Software president Randy Pitchford has said not to expect future content for Borderlands 2 to be on par with Season One DLC. Granted, it’s value will “exceed” its cost, he says, but at the same time players shouldn’t have high expectations for the content.

“We are still spending energy building new things for Borderlands 2, but we are also building new things for the future,” he said. “We’re building some new things for next-generation consoles, we’re creating some new IP, we’ve got a lot of attention diverting to other efforts beyond Borderlands 2.

“It’s not fair for me to say there’s another season. There’s not going to be as much new stuff, but the good news is, there’s more stuff and it’s awesome and the value of it will exceed the cost. But I don’t want anyone, later, saying: ‘Why wasn’t there a whole season like there was before?’

“There might turn out to be, but I can only see what we have in motion right now.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/09/14/borderlands-2-fans-shouldnt-expect-future-dlc-to-be-a-second-%e2%80%9cseason%e2%80%9d-of-content-says-pitchford/feed/4Homeworld IP “meant something to me,” says Gearbox COOhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/07/24/homeworld-ip-meant-something-to-me-says-gearbox-coo/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/07/24/homeworld-ip-meant-something-to-me-says-gearbox-coo/#commentsWed, 24 Jul 2013 20:45:12 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=391739The Homeworld IP, which was sold in a smaller THQ auction back in April, was being bid on by not only Gearbox Studios but Aspyr Media and Paradox Interactive.

This is according to Gearbox COO Brian Martel and CEO Randy Pitchford speaking during a panel at PAX Australia.

Pitchford said Martel reminded him to follow up with bidding on the IP every day, and the funds for it had to be put in an escrow account to show it could be afforded.

The firm eventually started live bidding on the Homeworld IP on the phone against Aspyr and Paradox. Gearbox’s $1.3 million bid beat Aspyr by $50,000.

“This is one of those games that for me sort of moved me as brand,” said Martel regarding Homeworld. “I was impressed with the story and it had some of the best spaceships that I have ever seen, outside of Star Wars. It was that part of it that meant something to me, so I really thought that we should get it out there for the rest of the world.

“And a lot of folks haven’t had a chance to play it, it has only been on DVD or CD, it has not ever been released digitally.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/07/24/homeworld-ip-meant-something-to-me-says-gearbox-coo/feed/7Borderlands 2 Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 2, 72 level cap out this fallhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/07/20/borderlands-2-ultimate-vault-hunter-upgrade-pack-2-72-level-cap-out-this-fall/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/07/20/borderlands-2-ultimate-vault-hunter-upgrade-pack-2-72-level-cap-out-this-fall/#commentsSat, 20 Jul 2013 13:10:31 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=390452Borderlands 2 will be the recipient of new DLC this fall, Gearbox Software announced at PAX Australia, but it will not be part of the Season Pass.

ORIGINAL STORY: The Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 2 will contain 11 levels, a new map called the Digistruct Peak Challenege, the ability to change the game difficulty outside your character level, and a new level cap of 72.

According to Gearbox president Randy Pitchford, plans are in place for “two or three” Headhunter Packs, starting this fall with T.K. Baha’s Bloody Harvest, which comes with another new mission and the ability to fight T.K. Baha from The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned.

There will also be a battle with the giant pumpkin boss Jacques O’Lantern, and should you best him, you will be handed new customizations .

The price for the Headhunters Pack will be determined at a later date and like The Ultimate Vault Hunter’s Pack 2, it will not be part the Season Pass – but the later will run you $5.00.

Other plans for the future include extra bank slots (thank you!), the ability to carry more ammo (gracias!), and more free of charge. Extra heads for the latest DLC, Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep, are in the plan.

Finally, Gearbox Community Day will be held on September 14, will be livestreamed, and a code for new heads and skins will be released on that day.

Speaking on the Nerdist podcast, Pitchford said, “We did a season pass for Borderlands 2, and the season pass was like, ‘hey if you buy the season pass we would be doing four campaign add-ons and you can buy all four of them for the price of three, if you buy upfront’.

“So everyone was under the expectations that those would be the four DLC’s and that’s it. We are going to do more, we are going to do some other things. I don’t have details exactly of it yet cause were not ready to announce what the other things are, but when the next campaign DLC comes Assault On Dragon Keep not being the end of it.

“We got more stuff in the hopper that we’re planning and getting pretty excited about. So if your a Borderlands 2 fan you don’t have to be afraid that that’s the end of it.”

What would you like to see should a fifth Borderlands 2 DLC pack launch? Let us know below.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/07/08/borderlands-2-tiny-tina-isnt-the-games-last-dlc-more-to-come-says-pitchford/feed/25Aliens: Colonial Marines wasn’t intended to exploit, says Pitchford to accusing fanshttp://www.vg247.com/2013/07/02/aliens-colonial-marines-wasnt-intended-to-exploit-says-pitchford-to-accusing-fans/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/07/02/aliens-colonial-marines-wasnt-intended-to-exploit-says-pitchford-to-accusing-fans/#commentsTue, 02 Jul 2013 11:16:22 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=384661Aliens: Colonial Marines was not intended to exploit gamers, Gearbox Software founder Randy Pitchford has said. The developer engaged in a Twitter argument with fans on the matter, after he suggested the industry should entertain, rather than exploit.

This is the tweet that started the fracas:

I just read something horrifying: http://t.co/yBGeQZqPb8 Our industry should exist to entertain and inspire, not to exploit!

Speaking at PAX East, Pitchford said when it comes to PS4, he “always loves more power,” and it was “really exciting for them to invite us to the process.”

Pitchford said Sony “listened” to what developers wanted which in turn made the “platform better.”

As far as other platforms coming were concerned, he never mentioned the next Xbox console by name, but said instead: “I’m excited about some other things, too, that I can’t talk about yet.”

But what about the long-awaited Wii U version of Aliens: Colonial Marines? SEGA has said the game is without a release date at present, and when asked about it’s impending release by Gamespot, Picthford told the site that while he sees the game “regularly,” it would have to ask SEGA about the title’s release.

“That’s not our call. I think [Demiurge Studios] did amazing work,” he said. “I think it’s really cool, but SEGA’s got to figure that out. We’re doing the best we can.”

Earlier in February it was rumored that the Wii U version of Alines: Colonial Marines had been postponed indefinitely. SEGA said the rumor wasn’t true.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/03/23/pitchford-really-excited-over-ps4-wii-u-release-of-aliens-colonial-marines-up-to-sega/feed/13Gearbox believes NRA should be advocating gun laws instead of pointing fingers at gameshttp://www.vg247.com/2013/03/02/gearbox-believes-nra-should-be-advocating-gun-laws-instead-of-pointing-fingers-at-games/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/03/02/gearbox-believes-nra-should-be-advocating-gun-laws-instead-of-pointing-fingers-at-games/#commentsSat, 02 Mar 2013 21:28:28 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=345607Violence in video games is a hot button issue in some circles, with pundit going as far as to blame gun violence on crimes committed around the world, and most recently in the US. One of the most vocal accusers of late, is the EVP of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre, who in the wake of the school shooting in Connecticut called the video game industry a “callous, corrupt, and corrupting shadow industry that sells and sows violence against own people, through vicious violent video games.” His opinion, is not one which Gearbox president Randy Pitchford shares.

Speaking with GI International during DICE 2013, Pitchford said he has mixed feelings on including gratuitous violence in games, but at the same time it’s important to “stand up for anyone’s ability to explore ideas and to express.”

“I have mixed feelings. I don’t think there are thought crimes,” he said. “I think the evidence is that the more a culture can share an experience and understanding through informational media, that the more mature and safe and secure and nonviolent that culture actually becomes.

“That said, as a creator and as a consumer, you can see true bullshit. I don’t really have a lot of respect for that. If you’re going to do something gratuitous just to get my attention and there’s no other value to it, I’ll see right through it as a customer.”

Pitchford said before casting blame or stones in another direction, the NRA would benefit more from taking a page out of the ESRB’s playbook.

“Think about the world’s relationship and the game industry’s relationship with the ESRB,” he said. “The ESRB is our self-regulated ratings body; the industry created this body to put labels on games. Most publishers, we pay for the ESRB, but we also have this high tension relationship. They’re really good at their jobs – they hold the industry accountable to fitting within the guidelines of whatever the label is and they will label appropriately. If you cross a line they will put you in a different spot, whether you want to be in that spot or not. And compared to the movie rating system, they have the best awareness and understanding of what their rating system is, and they have the best enforcement. Retail participates.

“Imagine if the NRA was actually advocating for gun laws; imagine if the NRA had the same relationship with the gun industry that the ESRB has with the game industry. Instead of the NRA saying don’t make any laws, now it would be like, ‘Fuck, the NRA’s making me do all this so my guns are safer, and I get why they’re doing it but it’s kind of a pain in my ass.’ That’s how the game industry’s relationship is with the ESRB.

“We love that it’s there but we’ve got to deal with shit; we have to go through a process to get the rating. If we don’t the retailers won’t stock us, and when some of the content pushes the line a little bit they’re going to call us on it and we have to deal with that. Imagine if the NRA had that same relationship with its industry, they could be good guys.”

The full interview can be read through the link.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/03/02/gearbox-believes-nra-should-be-advocating-gun-laws-instead-of-pointing-fingers-at-games/feed/16Gearbox president loves the idea of “fewer, bigger bets” with games developmenthttp://www.vg247.com/2013/03/02/gearbox-president-loves-the-idea-of-fewer-bigger-bets-with-games-development/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/03/02/gearbox-president-loves-the-idea-of-fewer-bigger-bets-with-games-development/#commentsSat, 02 Mar 2013 19:43:48 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=345606Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford has said he’s not worried over the possibility of development budgets going up, due to the potential it allows.

Speaking with GI International at DICE, Pitchford stated that, on one hand, he loves “the idea of fewer, bigger bets,” due to the possibilities which would come with more resources.

“I don’t think about the future with fear,” he said. “I tend to think about it with excitement and anticipation and on one level, I love the idea of fewer, bigger bets because I’d love to see what’s possible when it makes sense to put more resources than we’ve ever put into something before.

“As a creator, the idea that our studio can build something with a budget that’s two or three times as large as past efforts – oh my god, can you imagine what we can do then? So it excites me.”

Pitchford pointed out that while the retail, console game business is down 20-25% year-over-year, per title sales are up – something he contributed to fewer games being on the market.

“Each game that did appear sold more than it did before; there are just fewer games,” he said. “Fewer, bigger bets really means something and there’s an actual affect on the market. Is that bad or good? I don’t know.

“I’d rather have fewer things that are awesome because I can’t play all this stuff anyway. You know what I mean? There’s just so much that I can’t keep up and I’m fucking hard core. I play games all the time. And I can’t keep up so I actually like the idea of fewer, bigger bets. I’m excited by that.

“Meanwhile, there’s so much vibrancy in the indie world and there are so many more tiny bets. There’s so much more diversity there. It’s really awesome.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/03/02/gearbox-president-loves-the-idea-of-fewer-bigger-bets-with-games-development/feed/10Borderlands 2: new character & DLC being worked on nowhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/02/26/borderlands-2-new-character-dlc-being-worked-on-now/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/02/26/borderlands-2-new-character-dlc-being-worked-on-now/#commentsTue, 26 Feb 2013 10:18:59 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=343813Borderlands 2 will get new character DLC and a level cap raise soon, according to Gearbox Software head Randy Pitchford.

OXM has collated some of Pitchford’s tweets to eager fans on the matter.

When asked about a sixth character, Pitchford replied:

When asked about a potential level cap raise, Pitchford added, “News as soon as we can. Sorry I can’t offer more yet – I get skewered when things change in development, whatever the reason.”

When pressed one more time about the level cap, Pitchford re-iterated:

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/02/26/borderlands-2-new-character-dlc-being-worked-on-now/feed/4Brothers in Arms: “authentic” title on the way, says Pitchfordhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/02/12/brothers-in-arms-authentic-title-on-the-way-says-pitchford/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/02/12/brothers-in-arms-authentic-title-on-the-way-says-pitchford/#commentsTue, 12 Feb 2013 02:51:27 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=339013Brothers in Arms isn’t dead, Randy Pitchford has said, with a new, “authentic” game in the very, very early stages. – but usual publisher Ubisoft has bowed out of the picture.

Speaking to IGN, the Gearbox Software boss said he and his team love the Brothers in Arms series.

“There will be an authentic Brothers in Arms game,” Pitchford said. “We haven’t announced that yet, but I’m really excited about where that’s going too. We’ll announce these things in due course. There’s a lot of neat things we have going on.”

The project is still in pre-production, and Pitchford considers that it would be “reckless” to start talking about it now, when it may be up to five years away.

“That’s why I don’t announce things until we know what they are. It’s not fair to hold us accountable for a process that’s designed to get to a quality end that’s good for the customer. We love Brothers in Arms and we’re committed to more time in that space. As we get to places where it makes sense to announce things in that regard, we’ll do that, too,” he said.

“Most people will not recognize it as ever having anything to do with Brothers in Arms. If you’ve seen the Furious 4 demo or you go back and watch that stuff, you’ll notice the DNA. You can feel the DNA, because it’s an iterative, continuous development process,” Pitchford said.

“But it’s a process that decided to unhinge itself from Brothers in Arms and go where it needed to go. Furious 4 is evolving into something else. At some point we’ll announce what that thing is. It’ll feel like an entirely new thing. It’s going to be at that moment that it’ll feel like the starting point.”

“Ubi will not publish the new brand. We haven’t signed the next Brothers in Arms game with anyone yet,” Pitchford said. “Ubisoft’s a great publisher. They’ve been a great partner for Brothers in Arms for many years.”

The phrasing suggests Gearbox has not yet begun pitching the new Brothers in Arms to publishers, but it’s clear Ubisoft is not keen on whatever Furious Four has become. Pitchford said the “tension” of announcing a game under an existing brand, getting a poor reaction from fans as it evolved, and then finally re-announcing it as a new IP, hasn’t ben easy for either Gearbox or Ubisoft.

“Gearbox and Ubisoft have had a great relationship, but that’s tough, to go through that tension. They were expecting something that didn’t happen the way it did, but we need to do what we need to do. Everybody’s going to deal with that,” he added.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/02/12/brothers-in-arms-authentic-title-on-the-way-says-pitchford/feed/7Borderlands genre blend makes it “the only choice”, says Pitchfordhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/02/07/borderlands-genre-blend-makes-it-the-only-choice-says-pitchford/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/02/07/borderlands-genre-blend-makes-it-the-only-choice-says-pitchford/#commentsThu, 07 Feb 2013 21:45:45 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=337956Borderlands is a unique take on shooter RPG hybrids, which means it doesn’t have to compete with rivals – a deliberately established market position, according to Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford.

Speaking at DICE Summit 2013, as reported by GamesIndustry, Pitchford said that forcing gamers to choose between your product and somebody else’s can have negative results.

As consumers only have so much money, time and anergy to invest in entertainment products, they have to make a choice – one platform over another, for example – and because they’ve made a “good” choice, the rejected option becomes a “bad” one, Pitchford said. That’s how we end up in console fanboy comment thread wars. It doesn’t matter how good both choices are – only that, by default, each side has to be the villain for the other.

The Gearbox boss said developers shouldn’t let their games end up in a position like that, and took that mindset into Borderlands.

“We don’t like going head-to-head with good things because we don’t want to be the loser,” he said.

“We blended genres in Borderlands so we were the only choice – we couldn’t be the loser among consumers’ choice. It’s not a Coke or Pepsi decision – it’s a yes or no decision.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/02/07/borderlands-genre-blend-makes-it-the-only-choice-says-pitchford/feed/4Borderlands 2’s Tiny Tina accused as racist, Gearbox respondshttp://www.vg247.com/2013/02/04/borderlands-2s-tiny-tina-accused-as-racist-gearbox-responds/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/02/04/borderlands-2s-tiny-tina-accused-as-racist-gearbox-responds/#commentsMon, 04 Feb 2013 12:25:28 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=336313Borderlands 2 features some totally bat-shit crazy characters, but none are as loop as enfant terrible Tiny Tina, the game’s resident child bomb-maker. Gamers have called out Tina’s dialogue as racist in a Twitter spat with the game’s lead writer. The result? She may be patched in future.

That’s Mike Stacco, creative developer at Cryptozoic Entertainment tweeting to Borderlands 2 lead writer, Anthony Burch, creator of Tiny Tina. Stacco’s tweet kicked off a backlash from fans, who chipped in their own two cents on Tina’s dialogue:

Even Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford got involved:

You can check out the whole daisy-chain of events via PC Gamer’s piece at the link above, but it ended with this:

There has been no word on whether or not Tina will be changed. But what do you think? Are terms like ‘crunk’ and ‘badonkadonk’ racially charged, or are they justt he mindless yammering of a psychotic child? Let us know below.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/02/04/borderlands-2s-tiny-tina-accused-as-racist-gearbox-responds/feed/27Borderlands 2 weapon bugs being investigated by Gearbox, PC patch notes drophttp://www.vg247.com/2013/01/10/borderlands-2-weapon-bugs-being-investigated-by-gearbox-pc-patch-notes-drop/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/10/borderlands-2-weapon-bugs-being-investigated-by-gearbox-pc-patch-notes-drop/#commentsThu, 10 Jan 2013 11:00:26 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=328895Borderlands 2’s weapon set has been acting strangely for some players over on the Gearbox forums. Randy Pitchford has stepped in to assure fans that the team is aware of several glitches and is now looking at fixing them at present. There’s also a new PC update available, along with a set of patch notes.

MP1st reports that the Gearbox forums have seen several raised issues surrounding the Borderlands 2 arsenal, such as guns firing at odd angles, or shooting more bullets at once than they’re supposed to.

Randy Pitchford posted on the Gearbox Forums in response to the concerns and assured users that they aren’t going unheard.

“You guys are awesome. Constructive people are good. Science is good. As we have already proven, we’ll make adjustments when we’re sure things are wrong. We are likely to make more adjustments. We have top men working on this stuff. Top men.”

He added, “Just wanted to pop in and let everyone know that we’ve been keeping a close eye on both this and related threads. While I’m not a designer (and thus can’t really speak to what’s intentional or not) I can tell you that all the specific details you’ve provided are extremely useful for the team that’s digging into this.”

We’ll update on the fixes as they begin to roll out. In the meantime, the PC build of Borderlands 2 has received a new patch. Here are the notes:

Update v1.3.1 (Released 1/9/2013)

Added support for text input using the gamepad for Steam’s Big Picture mode.

Fixed a bug causing players to sometimes get stuck in the “Whoops” mission of the Captain Scarlett DLC.

Deathtrap can no longer restore an enemy’s shields, even though it was hilarious.

Addressed an issue where shotguns did not receive full damage boosts from skills and gear.

Have you witnessed any odd stuff in the game so far? Let us know below.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/10/borderlands-2-weapon-bugs-being-investigated-by-gearbox-pc-patch-notes-drop/feed/1Borderlands 2 Wii U not happening due to lack of ‘OMG’ featureshttp://www.vg247.com/2012/11/26/borderlands-2-wii-u-not-happening-due-to-lack-of-omg-features/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/26/borderlands-2-wii-u-not-happening-due-to-lack-of-omg-features/#commentsMon, 26 Nov 2012 14:44:52 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=318594Borderlands 2 developer Gearbox Software isn’t planning on bringing its RPG-shooter to Wii U, as it just couldn’t come up with any killer GamePad features that would warrant a port. Aliens: Colonial Marines on the other hand has plenty. Randy Pitchford has discussed his decision in a new interview. Get the quotes below.

Speaking with GamesMaster – as reported by NintendoEverything – Pitchford explained, “We get asked if there is going to be a Wii U version of Borderlands, and the reason why there’s not is because we couldn’t think of a natural, obvious, ‘OMG, I want that for what the Wii U brings to the table’ feature.”

However, Pitchford feels that Aliens: Colonial Marines is a better fit due to the game’s chilling motion scanner device, as seen in James Cameron’s iconic movie. It’s a creepy device that should feel right at home on Nintendo’s controller.

“But with Aliens, the first thing we thought was ‘Holy shit, I can have a motion controller in my hands!’ When it’s there in my lap it feels like I’m part of the movie.”

It makes sense that Pitchford wouldn’t want to tarnish Borderlands 2 by releasing a shoddy port just for the hell of it, because as the original Wii showed, the torrent of lousy ports with crap motion gimmicks grew old rather fast.

Responding to a question on Twitter as to whether new class DLC is “possible”, Pitchford gave a simple “yes” in response.

Although some have hailed the tweet as confirmation of new classes in the works, Gearbox has been clear since before launch that new characters were possible should the Mechromancer perform well. The question did reference Gaige’s success, though.

The Mechromancer went into production once Borderlands 2 went gold, and released within two months of its launch, free to those who’d pre-ordered. It is considered both a beginner and expert specialist class, thanks to two very different paths of progression.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/11/borderlands-2-extra-class-dlc-possible/feed/0Randy Pitchford on Wii U: ‘GamePad is Nintendo’s best hardcore controller yet’http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/31/randy-pitchford-on-wii-u-gamepad-is-nintendos-best-hardcore-controller-yet/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/31/randy-pitchford-on-wii-u-gamepad-is-nintendos-best-hardcore-controller-yet/#commentsWed, 31 Oct 2012 10:27:58 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=311808Nintendo’s Wii U GamePad has had its FPS praises sung by Gearbox Software head Randy Pitchford. The developer has been discussing the Wii U edition of Aliens: Colonial Marines in a new interview.

Speaking with Joystiq, Pitchford said, “This is the best controller Nintendo’s ever made for making an FPS. This is the best controller Nintendo has ever given us for playing hardcore games.”

Pitchford also expressed his love for touch screen devices, and praised Nintendo for sticking to its guns, “With the Wii U they (Nintendo) committed themselves to this promise. So the link is direct, fast and immediate. Things like SmartGlass and Vita, they appreciate the value of the promise so they’re making the promise. But they’re not in with such commitment”.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/31/randy-pitchford-on-wii-u-gamepad-is-nintendos-best-hardcore-controller-yet/feed/6DICE Summit to be held at new venue, more speakers announcedhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/10/25/dice-summit-to-be-held-at-new-venue-more-speakers-announced/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/25/dice-summit-to-be-held-at-new-venue-more-speakers-announced/#commentsThu, 25 Oct 2012 19:51:15 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=310474The DICE Summit will be held next year at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, which is a change of venue, and it will also be hosting a keynote each day. Speakers announced so far include Gearbox’s Randy Pitchford, thatgamecompany’s Jenova Chen, and Jesse Schell, CEO of Schell Games. The event will close on day three with the 16th Annual DICE Awards. The 2013 DICE Summit runs February 5-8, 2013. Thanks, GI International.
]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/25/dice-summit-to-be-held-at-new-venue-more-speakers-announced/feed/0Pitchford: motion controls evolving to holodeckshttp://www.vg247.com/2012/10/16/pitchford-motion-controls-evolving-to-holodecks/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/16/pitchford-motion-controls-evolving-to-holodecks/#commentsTue, 16 Oct 2012 05:26:20 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=307218Gearbox Software boss Randy Pitchford has said current motion control technology is on the path to something he’s very excited about: “holodeck” gaming.

Speaking to Joystiq, Pitchford said he would like to see gaming go down the holodeck path.

“Motion control technology that we’re seeing today and we’ll see as it iterates is a step towards the Holodeck vision,” he said.

“It’s still rudimentary. It’s not great yet, but it’s going to get better. But where it needs to be to do the Holodeck, we’re a long ways from that.”

Pitchford said that he’d prefer to continue using traditional controls where appropriate, but also seemed enthusiastic about a future where gaming narratives and design require forms of input we can’t yet achieve.

“Characters need to depend on feedback that’s more nuanced than something that would be better accomplished with a button press,” he said.

Interestingly, elsewhere in the interview Pitchford mentioned that one of the most exciting aspects of the industry’s near future is the prospect of collaboration between companies rather than format wars. Hit the link above to read more.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/16/pitchford-motion-controls-evolving-to-holodecks/feed/0Aliens: Colonial Marines will fill-in story gaps left over from Alien 3, says Gearboxhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/10/13/aliens-colonial-marines-will-fill-in-story-gaps-left-over-from-alien-3-says-gearbox/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/13/aliens-colonial-marines-will-fill-in-story-gaps-left-over-from-alien-3-says-gearbox/#commentsSat, 13 Oct 2012 18:02:54 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=306739Aliens: Colonial Marines will help fill-in some of the story holes present in the film Aliens 3, according to Gearbox.

“There were two itches that needed to be scratched,” said Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford. “Anyone who has seen the Aliens movies shares these itches. The first one is, there was some story you felt was supposed to happen after that first movie, and Aliens 3 was not it. Once we knew that universe is larger and there were colonial marines, we wished for a bigger, wider experience. We never got that.

“The other itch is, the opportunity to become a character in the movies in a video game medium, to be a hero in this place… We want to be colonial marines. In a video game we can live the fantasy of being one of these guys and living in this situation, filling the gap in the story that should have been filled after Aliens.

“That became the nut we needed to crack. If you love the Alien films, there’s a lot of tension. The fun of being in the boots of these marines isn’t always having the alien in your face, but feeling that sense of exploration and discovery.

“You’re in the movie, and you control the camera—you’re like a virtual tourist in these sets.”

The game’s lead writer, Mikey Neumann, said the team’s goal in creating the game was to merge the canon with something new.

“We thought, what if this was really big, what if we made it really huge?” he said. “We really go to war in this game. We really push back. We’re the guys carrying the Aliens torch now.

“We wanted to make sure we found the right promises to fill.”

Design director John Mulkey said during the panel that the team wanted to “do high action like nobody’s business,” with moments in the game gradually leading up to more high octane encounters.

“This is not a two-hour experience, you’ve got 10-plus hours to explore this universe,” Mulkey said. “And you’re going to want to turn the lights back on.”

Certain parts of the game will also pay fan service to the movie. During the panel, footage of the game was shown and the character of Newt was mentioned.

“If you’ve seen the film it’s fan service, and if you haven’t seen them it’s content,” said Pitchford. “I like that approach. Playing with that sort of dissonance between the two entry points, whether you have previous information or you don’t, and making it work for all minds was a trick.”

Aliens: Colonial Marines is out in February 2013 on PC, PS3, Wii U and Xbox 360.

Originally expected on October 16, the DLC will apparently be available today.

“So – here’s the surprise, Mechromancer for Borderlands 2 is ready about a week earlier than I promised. October 9, all platforms,” Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford said on Twitter.

“Should be available for download on all platforms by the end of the day,” he added.

The Mechromancer DLC is free to those who pre-order Borderlands 2 and will set you back $9.99/£7.99/800 MS Points otherwise.

The class is the first to be offered as DLC, although Gearbox has said others may follow if the idea takes off. Gaige’s skill tree, published in full earlier today, allows for an “easy mode” build or an advanced setup suited to the most expert of players.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/09/borderlands-2-mechromancer-dlc-releasing-early/feed/17Borderlands 3 not in development, Pitchford asks internet to ‘chill out’http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/03/borderlands-3-not-in-development-pitchford-asks-internet-to-chill-out/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/03/borderlands-3-not-in-development-pitchford-asks-internet-to-chill-out/#commentsWed, 03 Oct 2012 08:26:07 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=303012Borderlands 3 has not yet entered development, Gearbox Software founder Randy Pitchford has stressed via Twitter. His statement comes after Borderlands 2’s lead writer revealed that the team is currently brainstroming ideas for the next game.

Pitchford took to Twitter to quell rumours, along with the message, “Chill out internet. No one has started working on a sequel to Borderlands 2. It’s fun to talk and think, but actual effort is focused on Borderlands 2 DLC, Aliens, etc.”

“Clean and Simple truth: The only Borderlands related game development work going on right now is for Borderlands 2. I expect that to change at some point, but that is the state of the box at this moment in time…”